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June 30, 2009
Hypertension and dementia
A friend forwarded a commentary on a study on BP variability and its connection to dementia. This was a poster presentation at a conference, so the numbers are not available to us. As presented in this commentary, it raises more questions than it answers, which is the purpose of these kinds of studies.
Previous studies have shown a statistically significant (but not meaningful) increase in dementia with increased pressure. This study does not even show statistical significance. Rather, the variability in pressure is statistically signficant (again, we do have enough information to say whether this is meaningful). But the ranges of variability are much wider than the difference between the ranges.
The big question is, clinically, does treating BP (or worse, attempting to treat) cause greater variability leading to greater dementia? Have we worsened the dementia problem with our treatements (of BP, or cholesterol, or whatever)? Have we first done harm?
Posted by Robert Maddox at 9:08 PM | Comments (1)